1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a small-card dispensing apparatus with increased capacity. In particular, the present invention relates to a card dispensing apparatus that dispenses stacked cards in a predetermined direction without damaging cards from extremely-thin to thick ones irrespectively of card material.
2. Description of Related Art
Here, “card” for use in the present specification is a generic name of a member in a thin plate shape, such as prepaid cards, character cards, IC cards, and others.
As a first conventional technology, a card dispensing apparatus is known in which a perimeter surface of a rotating roller is made to contact with the surface of a bottom card of a plurality of stacked cards and the card is dispensed by frictional contact (for example, refer to Japanese Utility-Model Publication No. 7-26272 (pp. 3-5, FIGS. 1-5)).
As a second conventional technology, a card dispensing apparatus is known in which a step portion of a reciprocating member that linearly reciprocates is engaged with a rear end of the bottom of stacked cards and the card is pushed out by the step portion (for example, refer to Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application Publication No. 10-293816 (Paragraph Nos. 0009-0115, FIGS. 20-25)).
As a third conventional technology, a card dispensing apparatus is known in which the perimeter surface of a flat belt that is moved in forward and reversed directions and can contact with an underside of one of the stacked cards at the bottom and the card is dispensed with a frictional contact by the flat belt (for example, refer to Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application Publication No. 9-132335 (Paragraph Nos. 0009-0046, FIGS. 1-4)).
As a fourth conventional technology, a card dispensing apparatus is known in which the surface of one of the stacked cards at the top is placed in frictional contact with a feeding pad that makes an arc movement and the card is dispensed by the arc movement of the feeding pad (for example, refer to Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application Publication No. 2000-76389 (Paragraph Nos. 0012-0044, FIGS. 3-4)).
There is still a need in this industry to provide a high speed and compact card dispensing apparatus that can selectively dispense cards in an efficient manner without damaging the cards.